Under Cloudy Skies
by chane
Summary: The rain brings people together, under it's cloudy skies, people cuddle under umbrellas, in houses and cafes and even... dance out in the rain, together... A trilogy featuring Spain, England and S. Italy as well as Gibraltar/Ariana.
1. Chapter 1: Little Gifts Are Falling

XD Yes, I did just post yesterday, but hey! What can I say? I'm just too excited to come back? Let's go with that! XD Yesterday I re-read the Revolutionary War strips (After I posted, too) and thought it'd be nice to write a fic with an element being _rain_. See the end if you're confused who she is… PS, about the title, just read it and you'll understand ^^ In other words… read it.

Disclaimer: I do not own APH characters, those are strictly Hidekaz Himaruya's, and he doesn't own the countries, nor do I own Gibraltar, but I do own the OC that represents Gibraltar… Kay?

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**Little Gifts Are Falling From The Sky**

_"You get presents for your birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day... but it's rare when you get one from Heaven."_

When Ariana was younger and still called Adela by Antonio-nii there was one day in particular she remembered now…

She had been young and sprightly, impatient to get out of the house and in to the sun and gardens… but it was raining, "Antonio-nii! When's it going to stop?" she had whined in a begging, whiny voice only kids can pull off.

He had smiled in response and knelt down besides her at the window and said, "Adela-chan, do you want the rain to go away?" without a second's hesitation she had nodded enthusiastically and burst, "Yes! I can't play outside if it's raining!" He had smiled kindly, ever-patient with the younger girl, "But Adela-chan, rain is a blessing."

That had done it. In all of her years of life, rain was not a good thing to her, not once in her eyes was it seen as _good_, the very suggestion was incomprehensible, "No, it isn't!" she had retorted and stood taller, pointing accusingly at the water falling from the sky in sheets, "Rain makes the grass muddy and makes puddles, so you can't run or you'll slip or dirty your clothes! You can't play outside, because you'll catch a cold! And it makes your hair all matted, your clothes wet, cold and heavy and is the cause of new-moan-e-a!"

Antonio-nii had simply smiled in response and stood up, leaning down to kiss her forehead he muttered, "It's getting late now, anyway, you couldn't have played outside. Go to sleep and by the time your nap is over, I'll tell you why the rain is a blessing."

She had slept well, the rain usually made her groggy. Another reason why she hated it – it confined her to the indoors and made her too tired to do anything else. When she woke, the rain had gone and it was bright and sunny, halfway through the afternoon. Rushing to the door, she almost made it out when Antonio-nii caught her.

"Hey, there, you woke up… now, where are you going?" he chuckled at her eagerness, squirming in his arms to be let go.

"Antonio-nii! Let me go! I wanna go play outside!" she had demanded and he lifted her up and into his arms.

"Oh, no! I told you when you wake up I'm telling you why the rain is a blessing! And you're going to be patient and listen or else you're not going outside today or tomorrow!" he cheered with a giddy smile.

That was absolutely unfair, "Wha! You can't do that!" she had complained, stopping her struggling.

"Yes I can! I'll lock the doors and you can't reach the knob!" he was smiling, teasing her and she relented. A couple of hours were torture… two days was insane.

"Fine…" he carried her outside, anyway and sat on the porch, perching her on his knee he began his story.

"Do you know why the rain is a blessing?" he started, looking down at her, she shook her head furiously, earning chuckles, he smiled kindly at her and answered, "Because it is a gift from the Heavens for us down here on Earth," he gestured around, "Rain gives water to our rivers and our plants, it gives us something refreshing to drink and all the fish and water animals something to live in. It allows us to grow all sorts of foods, even tomatoes!"

She went speechless, gazing up at him in wonder, as he went on he pointed at a beautiful rose bush, "Do you see those roses? Come look," he lifted her up and over to them so she could see the glistening drops of water on each petal, "Without the rain they would never bloom, but with it," he pointed to the moist, dark brown, rich soil, "It gives it water and these little buds," he touched one, "Turn in to these beautiful flowers of _love_, that's what roses represent, Adela-chan, they represent _love_." He smiled, "Rain are just little gifts wrapped in water!"

She stared at the vivid red flowers until he lifted her onto his shoulders in surprise and pointed straight in to the sky, she raised her head and her eyes met with a beautiful sight, "Antonio-nii, Antonio-nii! Someone painted the sky!" she had exclaimed.

He laughed, "No, silly! That's a rainbow!"

"Rain… bow?" she asked with a curious look, still in awe.

"Yes, a rainbow… every time, after it rains, there's a rainbow. Do you know why there's a rainbow?" he asked with a bright smile.

"Why?" she squealed excitedly and then suggested, "Is it because there are little nymphs that paint the sky while it rains, so when the sun comes out, it'll dry, but because they did it while it rained, the paint is washing off… or… or"

"No, no!" he exclaimed, not letting her get too carried away he exclaimed, "Cuando llueve y hace sol, sale el arco del Señor!"

She looked up at him and asked, "Antonio-nii! What are you saying?"

He chuckled and smiled, "When it rains and there's sun, the ark of the Lord comes out. That's what I said. God tends rainbows as an ark over cities all over the world every time after it rains!"

That had done it and she exclaimed, "Antonio-nii! I love the rain and the rainbows!" and she gave him a tight hug and gazed with sparkling eyes up at the rainbow.

How long ago had that been? She wondered, looking back on the memory... it was when she was still living with Antonio, that much she knew... it just seemed so long ago since she'd shared such moments. Since she'd seen him in that light... as her big brother... as her Antonio-nii...

"Damn it... What happened to those days?" They seemed so far away now... out of her reach, out of her mind... it just bought her a one way ticket down memory lane...

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*Pokes-pokes* So? How'd you like it? Was it good? Was it sweet? Do you love Spain any more than you did before? Who was she? It's Gibraltar! She was supposed to be a boy, but… boys don't care about keeping their clothes clean, now, do they? Since no historical necessities are in this story, just be patient… it shall all be explained… XD… it's _terrible_ I'm posting the _after-stories_ before the _actual_ ones! Will you review? Will you favorite? Will you do anything at all? *Pokes-pokes* Tell me… in a review! *Poke*

Oh, and I know it was short… the second part is as long as my Northern Lights one… I revised this, in case you're wondering, because I didn't like the ending.


	2. Chapter 2: Under A Blanket of Rain

Here's part two, and the ending of my first post. I revised this because I really didn't like the voice of the story, it sounded very... blah. Especially the middle section, the endings are supposed to be reflective and the beginnings a little exciting, but the middle was just... ugh, I wanted to barf when I re-read it. So I changed it a little, it's a little more romantic now. I guess I do need a beta...

Disclaimer: I do not own APH characters, those are strictly Hidekaz Himaruya's, and he doesn't own the countries ^^u, nor do I own Gibraltar, but I do own the OC that represents Gibraltar… Kay?

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**Together Under a Blanket of Rain**

_"The rain brings us together, wrapping us in her cold embrace under a blanket of rain so that we snuggle close for even the slightest feeling of warmth."_

Sheets of rain cascaded down from the sky which was blotted out with deep gray clouds. It beat against rooftops with resounding thuds in thick droplets. Yes, ever since that day, she did love the rain… but this wasn't rain… it was a waterfall in the sky.

The only reason she was managing to get through the streets, the thick droplets coming in such great amounts and so fast, was because she knew the area far too well to be stopped by the mere disability to see. How many times had she ran down these streets to Arthur for help to stop Antonio from taking her under his wing again? More than she'd like to count.

People were cozy in cafes, with hot coffee and chocolate or in houses besides the fireplace, wrapped in wool blankets. The only person who dared venture outside was she. And she was fine with that. The odd looks, the kind people asking for her to come inside, the woman who gave her the Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee… it was all perfectly fine…

She just _had_ to see him, to see Arthur. If there wasn't something she could count on where Arthur lived, it was that most of the times; there was rain. And after remembering _that_ day… well, it was almost a necessity to see the little blessings falling from the sky.

=.= It was raining yet again today… early today had been fairly pleasant, barely any telling of such a fierce downpour. The clouds off in the horizon looked too far away to get here any time soon. That was a very wrong calculation. Half-way through the day it began to drizzle and it quickly mutated in to this… storm.

He was fine with it. He hadn't planned to venture outside, in any case. Sitting in his home with a cup of warm tea and some freshly-baked scones was fine with him as he watched TV. The fireplace was going and it was nice and warm, no one was outside today, everyone was just like him, sitting in their homes with the heaters turned on and the fireplaces going… sipping warm tea, coffee and cocoa snuggled in blankets, eating dinner… it was rather peaceful…

A frantic knocking quickly dissolved these thoughts and he jumped and got up, brows furrowed as he grumbled under his breath, "What bloody git would be daft enough to go running around in this kind of storm?" yanking the door open his eyes met with a most… _unseemly _sight.

Ariana stood on his porch, dripping wet, a Styrofoam cup in her hand once filled with some warm liquid now filled with rain, overflowing. Her hair and clothes looked soak through and heavy, she was soaked to the bone, and yet she wasn't shivering. She was _smiling_. Her eyes bright with… excitement?

"Ariana? What are you doing here in the middle of this bloody storm? What's wrong? Get inside; get inside, quickly! Before you catch a cold! What were you thinking?" he rattled, yanking her inside he raced to a closet and began to dry off her hair more harshly than strictly necessary, ranting all the while about her absurdity, "Surely nothing was important enough to run through all this rain to get here, not even Antonio! It was so bloody stupid and dangerous, you could've been hurt, the cars can't see you through this storm, they could've swerved, you could've tripped... God, so many bad things could've happened! What were you thinking?"

"Arthur!" she shouted and he stopped and sighed, "Yes?" he muttered, she smiled weakly and answered, "You don't need to be so panicky, I just wanted to _see _you."

He gazed at her in wonder and… started yelling, "What? What kind of bollocks excuse is that? You wanted to see me? Take a picture and you can see me whenever you want! You don't need to battle a storm to see me!"

The next thing she did was absolutely baffling, she burst in to a fit of giggles, "What?" he yelped, "Why are you laughing? Can't you see that I'm worried?"

She looked up at him, he could see water in her eyes from the laughter, "It's just a little rain, Arthur, no big deal!" his eyes went wide, "Just a little rain?" he exclaimed, "Ariana, you can run through a drizzle or a light rain any time you want, but that," he pointed to the window, "Is not a light drizzle! That is a bloody storm, damn it! The onyl thing missing is the freaking thunder and lightning!"

"Arthur!" she exclaimed, smiling, "I'm all right, that's all that matters, right?" he blinked and blushed and snapped, "Well, yes, but the possibilities..." she laughed, "Luck was with me today, I promise, I won't do it again, now... come on," and she yanked on his wrist and began off towards the door, immediately he planted his feet in to the ground, if he were capable, he would've grown roots. There was no way she was planning on taking him outside!

"Where do you think you're taking me, Ariana?" he demanded.

"Outside," Ariana answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, which, of course, it was. She was trying very hard to drag him out the door.

He yanked his hand back, perhaps one of the more aggressive actions he ever used with her and snapped, "It's raining, and I don't have an umbrella," truth be told, he much rather just wished he could be left alone to his warmth by the fire. He'd be happy to welcome Ariana in, but… she wasn't having any of that.

"It's just a quick walk down your walkway and back, that's it, I promise." She begged, and that was something he couldn't reject. In all his years of caring for her, there was no way he could really reject her if that was her wish. Especially if she was begging, because it was so damn rare of someone with so much damn pride to beg.

"Fine." He relented and looked around; she tilted her head to the side, "What are you looking for?" she questioned and he sighed, "I'm looking for my shoes… ah! I know, they're in my room…" as he attempted to walk off, she stopped him, tugging him back in place, she snapped, "No shoes."

"What?" he asked, disbelief dripping from his voice.

"No shoes or socks, not even slippers. Just your bare feet." She retorted with a bright smile.

Glancing down at her feet he realized for the first time they were _bare_. Dirt stuck to her pale skin and she wriggled her toes as if to exemplify her point, he looked back up and she smiled brightly at him as if it were... normal to do this sort of thing. He rarely saw any of Antonio's personality in the girl most of the times, so much so he thought it impossible that he raised her... he was sure now that he had, this sort of idiotic thing was the Spaniard's trademark...

"No! Bloody hell, no!" he yelped, "It's cold, wet, the rain is slippery, there are rocks and other sharp things you could get your feet cut on! You could get sick or bitten, trip over rocks! It's not safe, bloody hell, Ariana, are you absolutely daft? What's wrong with you today? Did you eat something?"

A look of hurt flashed across her face, and this stung a little, but it was insane. She finally sighed and answered, "Arthur, I've walked without my shoes on the first time a drop of rain touched me. Not once have I stepped on anything, been bitten by anything or even stubbed my toe on a rock. Besides…" she sighed and brushed back her wet, matted hair, "You're already a bit wet from dragging me inside, a little water isn't going to hurt you." he barely caught what she said under her breath, but it sounded vaguely similar to, "Besides... if I ate any food that made me sick, it'd probably be yours..."

"Ariana…" he moaned, she wasn't playing fair. Her expression was of utmost sincerity and that look of hurt still stung at his chest, he sighed grudgingly and ceded, "Fine. Let's go."

She smiled brightly and he could feel that little pain disappear, even as he was dragged off in to the cold rain. He flinched when the water stung at his bare skin, he couldn't even begin to comprehend how she had stood this on her walk over. The ground felt disgusting, the rain too cold and sharp… it was all very uncomfortable as his clothes began to stick to him, becoming heavy and his hair stuck to his skin…

She laughed at his expression, which he guessed wasn't a thrilled one at all and asked, "Don't you like the rain, Arthur?"

He shrugged his shoulders, it felt uncomfortable, the fabric heavy and sticking, "When I'm inside, watching it…"

Ariana smirked as she continued further out, away from him, and began to speak, but he couldn't see her, it was all hazy and hard to see with the rain… "You know… I used to think that, too… and then… I was told what rain really was…" he saw her head shift up to look at the sky directly and as he attempted it, the water stung his eyes and he assumed her eyes were closed. He didn't need to see her to feel that she was close to him.

"He told me… the rain was a gift from the heavens, blessings… because the rain gives us so much, Arthur. It gives so much to the animals and the plants… so… why shouldn't we be able to enjoy the rain, too? The flowers get to drink from it; the animals get to bathe in it… Why shouldn't we?"

He opened his eyes to look at her bright face, wondering briefly how it seemed so bright in such dreary weather. He didn't _know_ whom she had heard this from, but he could make a very simple gift. Sometimes he honestly wondered if it would be better for her to return to how it was when she younger, more innocent… when she listened to this for the first time and it first enraptured her thoughts and opinion on the rain.

What she did next was almost amazing, she walked a few steps away and began to twirl, and he saw her lips separate, opening, allowing the water in. Each twirl was with such grace he couldn't imagine, her arms spread out and her hands seemingly wafting in a breeze like branches. She stopped as she faced him and encouraged, "Try it!"

He could barely imagine that he would look half as beautiful as she had; in fact, he was quite sure in comparison he'd seem like a large clumsy puppet. Nonetheless, concentrating on her, he spread his arms and began to spin in a circle; sticking a shy tongue out in to the air he tasted the raindrops.

It actually felt good. The rain was cool and his skin felt too warm not to enjoy it. The taste of the rain was refreshing and cool against a tongue that had only ever tasted food. There was a sort of freedom in doing this insane act. A feeling… an uplifting feeling… as if he were being showered with something besides the cool rain…

He stopped when he heard her chuckles and looked at her, flushing madly he questioned, "I looked like a bloody fool, didn't I?"

She shook her head and answered, "Not at all! You just looked so… happy."

The heat in his cheeks increased ten-fold at that and he frowned and retorted, "It's not like I'm sad!"

Laughing, she answered, "No, I wouldn't say that… but I also wouldn't say that you always smile like _that_."

He frowned at her and she met his gaze for a long while before…=.=

"ACHOO!" her eyes snapped shut and her hands went to her mouth to cover the sneeze, his eyes widened and he remembered why he hadn't wanted to come out in the first place.

"Bloody hell! I knew this would happen!" he rushed over to her and shrugged off his coat, draping it over her shoulders, she looked at it, then at him and began to laugh, "What's a wet coat going to do?" He groaned and rushed her inside immediately, but a little upturn of the corner of his lips was all the tell-tale she needed to know that he had had fun, that he was… happy.

There is something special about the rain that does this. It makes people come together… whether it be as they twirl around under the darkened sky, their skin being soaked to the bone… or cuddled up in wool blankets with a cold, in front of a fireplace, a cup of tea in hand besides someone special… scolding you about catching a cold…

"I love the rain…"

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The ending… don't ask who spoke, I can't say myself… Ariana barely got any POV dedicated to her… there was more, originally, but… I cut it out. Can't be too wild with that, now, can I? In any case, there's a little button on this page that gives me a review… press it. Thanks!

I'm thinking, after revising this, to make just a small little one-shot afterwards that won't be a part of this series about what Antonio told her abotu rainbows and what Ireland told Arthur about rainbows.


	3. Chapter 3: Sunlight In The Clouds

The final part of the trilogy, at last...

Disclaimer: I do not own APH characters, those are strictly Hidekaz Himaruya's, and he doesn't own the countries ^^u, nor do I own Gibraltar, but I do own the OC that represents Gibraltar… Kay?

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**Sunray's In Between The Clouds**

_"Even if it's pouring rain, sometimes a ray of sunshine will peek between the clouds and shine down on you... like fate."_

Damn it all… today was just turning out terribly…

First, the damned birds had woken her up at the ungodly hour of four, on her way downstairs, she stubbed her toe on the staircase and then she burnt herself while making breakfast. The last straw came in the form of the irritating Spaniard prat banging on her door at five with his bright and chipper attitude.

At first, she had tried to ignore him. Then, she tried reasoning with him. Finally, her last attempt at being even remotely decent with him, she tried arguing. But the Spaniard had been as clueless and stubborn as ever… and she couldn't take it. She started cussing, yelling and finally, as a final attempt to just make him shut up… she threw a _pot_ at his forehead… now he lay unconscious on his couch after she dragged him there, tending to his injury.

She sighed as she stood before the couch she'd dropped him on and gazed at his face, her arms crossed against her chest. God, he could sleep clueless, too, his mouth hanging wide open, snoring loudly, a line of drool dripping down his chin…

Yanking up his shirt she wiped the dribble as tenderly as possible to keep from waking him up… she'd never hear the end of it if he found out she actually cared about him. She sighed and squatted besides the git and stared at his face… he looked so damn peaceful she felt bad for having given him the large bulge on his forehead and at the same time very grateful, it's hard to like someone when they irritate the shit out of you, on the other hand, like this… he was tolerable…

"You damn git… why can't you be like this all the time?" she muttered wistfully and brushed back his bangs from irritating the swelling. She stood and taking one last glance at his sleeping form before going in to the kitchen to get a wet rag to make the swelling go down.

With the cool water running over her hand, soaking through the cloth she gazed blankly as she thought about the morning's events. She hadn't meant to hurt the Spaniard… that bad… hell, she never purposely tried to except for a few attempts, and even then, she never did, now, did she? He irritated her, that's it… she didn't hate him; she didn't want to hurt him… no, sometimes she honestly wanted to break his voice box or his jaw or something, but she'd never _do_ it… she'd punched him and kicked him and shoved him onto the ground, that was it… she'd never knocked him out…

She sighed and squeezed the water out of the soaked rag. On a normal day, she wouldn't have done this. She or Arthur would have kicked Antonio out of her house and he'd go crying to Lovino, bothering him relentlessly… but Lovino was absent today, visiting his brother she soon realized after entering the house with Antonio in tow. Which explained why he was so stubborn not to leave – whenever Lovino was gone, he always turned to her.

Brushing back his bangs and placing the wet cloth on his injury she shook her head and lay her head on the couch as well, she was tired… it was exhausting just to _look_ at him. But she couldn't fall asleep _here_. If he woke up to her sleeping by him on the couch, caring for him… he'd throw a ball the moment he figured it out five minutes later.

Standing up, she stretched and made one last observation of the Spaniard, she could leave, after all… it wasn't like he needed care all day long, and he didn't have a concussion. She glanced at the door nervously in case Lovino walked in with the worst timing ever before leaning down and kissing the Spaniard's cheek, she muttered, "Sorry," before straightening up and darting for the door.

Closing the door slowly until she heard the soft click she sighed and knocked her head lightly against it, she couldn't wait to get home and pretend none of this had ever happened. Turning around, she had the bad luck to come face to face with none other than the Italian himself.

They gazed at each other for a long while, him suspiciously, she never managed to leave Antonio without some large ruckus before and she never came willingly; and she staring back at him, nervously fidgeting, her cheeks flushing even darker under the pressure until their staring contest was broken when he asked,

"What are you doing here?"

Damn… and he had to ask the worst question possible, didn't he? She sighed heavily and brushed back her messy bangs… today just wasn't a good day for her. There was no point in lying, Lovino would go in and find Antonio unconscious and figure it out, and he wasn't as daft as the Spaniard. She swallowed a lump in her throat and answered, "I was just… taking care of Antonio…"

She wouldn't forget that face, it was one of the better parts of today, as well as the much-grateful-for silence that came after knocking Antonio out and panicking over if he was really all right. Lovino's eyes went wide as platters, his mouth dropped open and he began to make odd gestures before finally settling on, "Wha-what?"

She held in a fit of laughter but chuckled a little and rubbed the back of her neck, a nervous trait she inherited from the damn Spaniard, "Well… I… knocked him out this morning with a pot, so… I had to make sure he wasn't… dead or anything, you know?" she glanced up at the Italian nervously; he looked stunned. It wasn't everyday that she ever willingly took one step in to the Spaniard's home or even showed remote amount of care for him unless it was serious. She preferred to keep her sentiments not known to him; after all… she couldn't imagine the reaction if she used such affectionate terms as his "You're so cute!" as casually as he did.

Seeing that Lovino wasn't finding the right words to describe his amazement she walked forward and asked, "Hey, Lovino, you don't mind keeping this between us, do you?" asked seriously and the Italian looked at her, she lowered her eyes and went on, "Well, if that damn Span… umm… if Antonio found out, I wouldn't here the end of it, so… can this be," she took up his hand in a rare act of partial-pleading, "Between us?" she gave him an uneasy smile, this was the last time she'd ever do something so stupid…

It took Lovino more than a minute to gather all his thoughts together and even then all he could manage was, "Yeah… no problem." He chuckled nervously and was avoiding eye contact, his eyes landing everywhere but in her general direction.

Lovino wouldn't betray her that much she knew because he could keep a secret; after all… he'd kept a certain one for years already. Nevertheless, it'd been so long, she realized, since the days she lived in Antonio's home, she tugged on his hand and began to walk, "Well, then, let's let the stupid Spaniard rest on his own… let's go for a walk, I haven't seen you in a long time, Lovino."

It felt awkward. The whole situation was awkward. He had just come home from visiting his stupid little brother when _Ariana Roccan _of all people was walking out. It was the last person he expected to see. Ariana was very clear on never wanting to return to Antonio's household, going as far as changing her _name_ from a Spanish one to an English one… well, she had all the rights to do that, after all, Antonio had changed it, too.

Even worse was when she explained what had happened. Of all the things Lovino could see in the near future, one of them was not Ariana taking care of Antonio… he didn't even see that in the _distant_ future. Her knocking him out with a pot _that_ he had expected long ago, her taking care of him after wards… just wasn't even imaginable in his mind. Ariana was nice, optimistic, passionate, yeah, but she had too much _pride_ to admit it was the wrong thing to do and take responsibility. And yet… she was, she _admitted_ it. And he couldn't imagine why she would lie about that, hell; it'd make more sense if she'd said otherwise… he would've believed her more.

Now they were walking the streets of Italy, hand-in-hand, like a couple. The fits that Antonio would've thrown at the mere sight of it would've been enormous.

They walked in general silence, occasionally stopping at her request to look at something or eat something, Lovino didn't mind, it felt nice to have Ariana with him. The girl was easy to talk to, she didn't annoy people and she was pleasant, albeit rough in her speaking, but… Lovino wasn't known for having the most polite speech patterns, was he? It was so nice, in fact, they didn't notice the darkening of the skies, the shop lights acting as their sun as they walked on down the streets, further away from Antonio and further in to the darker parts of Italy…

It began to rain.

Looking up at the sky they both stopped and watched as the slight drizzle picked up and Ariana thrust her hand out in to the rain, watching the drops puddle in her palm Lovino watched, too, until… she splashed him. She was smiling coyly, holding a fit of laughter.

He twitched, "W-why you! What was that for?" he demanded, irritable.

Ariana laughed outright and answered, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it… Here, it's not that bad," she grabbed his hand and they were both thrust in to an ongoing pelting of raindrops. It wasn't that Lovino hated the rain, he just didn't think of doing this everyday, still… it felt nice in comparison to the recent hot weather.

She chuckled as he turned his face upwards towards the sky and he looked at her and demanded, "What?" it was always easier to talk to Ariana that way than other girls; she talked pretty roughly, too.

She smiled tenderly, it was one of the softer expressions she had that he didn't often see because he was always with Antonio if he did see her… and she rarely softened up in front of him, "Do you remember that time when we were both still little kids living with Antonio?" she asked curiously, tilting her head and glancing up at him.

He looked down at her, confused, "What do you mean? Which time?" They didn't have many together; they both only tolerated each other then because of Antonio. Only so rarely did they have private moments.

"That day we played in the rain surrounded by circus music…" she answered and the memory flooded back in to his mind…

They'd both been so small in a large carnival Antonio had brought them to; they'd gotten separated and were tightly holding onto each others hands as they walked through the large crowds, trying their best to avoid being trampled and finding the pair of legs that belonged to Antonio. They crawled on the ground and their clothes were dirtied and ripped and both of them wanted to burst in to tears…

When it had begun to rain, Lovino was quick in tugging on her arm, wanting to get inside as fast as possible to avoid catching a cold, she'd tugged him back and proclaimed with a proud, happy smile, "No, Lovino, if we stay out here, Antonio will surely see us because we'll be the only ones outside!" she'd explained… it sounded like a good plan, after all, who wouldn't notice two kids playing in the rain?

They'd jumped around, splashing each other by jumping in to rain puddles, laughing, eating the rain and throwing mud at each other. They could hear the parents muttering "How irresponsible," "Whose kids are those," "What are they doing out in this weather," "Someone call their parents," all around them as they passed by tents, but they were having too much _fun_ to care any more about anyone, even Antonio.

When Antonio did find them, his eyes went wide and he scooped them up in his arms and immediately they went home. He brought them to the bathroom and stripped them of their clothes and put them in a tub together, all the while chiding them how unhealthy it was and all the bad things that could've happened, how they ruined their clothes and how worried he'd been… he stopped when she had the audacity to splash him with water.

They started a water war in the tub and eventually, the Spaniard soaked with water, got in with them too and gave up his act of being a responsible older brother, splashing them more then they got to splash him. They'd laughed that day and it truly felt… as if they were a family…

He smiled at the memory and jumped in to a puddle in front of them, she stared, wide-eyed and shocked at him, dripping with the dirty rainwater until she grinned and they began to play in the rain just like they were kids lost at a carnival…

"Hey, there."

The gruff voice broke through their laughter and they stopped with anxious looks to face a large group of bulky men… the Italian Mafia, Lovino realized with horror. He glanced at Ariana and that instinct came over him, he moved in front of her and gathered up every ounce of courage he could muster and asked, "What?" as bravely as possible, it came out weak and hesitant, they noticed.

One of the guys smirked, "Hey. We just came to see what you two were up to, playing in the rain in these parts of town." He gestured around at the place they were in; they'd wandered away from the brightly lit shop streets and in to bad territory.

"We were just leaving, we don't want any trouble," Lovino answered, hoping they'd let them go, he felt Ariana slip her hand in to his and squeeze a bit too roughly, her other hand on his back, both gestures of her support.

The man smirked and took a step forward, "Sorry, kid, but this is our part of town, don't worry… we won't kill you," he then shot Ariana a filthy look and made a purring sound, "Hi, there, cutie."

Lovino gripped her hand and made his resolve right then, there was no way he was going to let them do anything to Ariana, at least… He turned and began to _run_.

She stumbled at first but quickly picked up her pace and they were running, ignoring the shouts behind them they ran and ran, and kept on running, eventually their gasps for air turning in to laughter and they eventually stopped, stumbling they leaned against a shop window, smiling slightly.

Ariana chuckled and sat on the wet floor, "Wow, Lovino!" she exclaimed, "I don't think I've ever ran like that before!"

He smiled down at her and nodded, "We had to get away as quick as possible."

Nodding, she answered, "You were very brave… thank you," she muttered with an embarrassed flush; well… it could have just been from the running, then again.

He gave a stiff sort of nod and outstretched his hand for hers, "Let's get back to the stupid Spaniard before he starts panicking,"

She nodded and took his hand for the third time that day and they began the walk back to Antonio's home, dripping wet, hand in hand… like a couple sidetracked because of the storm, lost as they tried to find their way back home…

* * *

I had difficulties with writing this chapter because I'm not fond of Lovino… I don't really know how to make him act in here, so he may seem a little OOC… or a lot. And yet, it turned out longer than my others because I had to incorporate so many elements in to getting them in that situation. I'm planning on adding on an afterwards to this when they do reach home, do you want to read it? In any case, review, help me make it better, tell me what you think, tell me if you want more, anything, really, just review!


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